


The Erosion of Grief

by Uniasus



Series: From the Ashes of Grief [2]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: F/M, Post-Movie(s), Tomadashi Week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 06:56:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4091275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uniasus/pseuds/Uniasus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grief doesn't just go away. It stirs up memories, makes you look at things (and people) in new ways. But slowly, it fades away and leaves behind a changed woman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Erosion of Grief

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a huge shipper, of any pairing, but I learned about Tomadashi Week around the time I had written myself into an angst hole thanks to Madness and this was something light to focus on. So I participated with a series of drabbles for the week, March 29th - April 4th, on [Tumblr](uniasus.tumblr.com). I'm finally posting them here. However, the order is different. Instead of following the theme of the day, these drabbles are in the order I wrote them. 
> 
> This is loosely related to Grief in that it's post-movie and mentions events from that story, but it but does stands alone.

* * *

####  Goodbye 

* * *

For Gogo, goodbyes were part of life. She said goodbye to her mom when she passed away from cancer, leaving her father to take care of five kids. She said goodbye to her oldest brother when he got involved in the local gang territory disputes and her family was left staring at his urn. She said goodbye to family when she moved out of the too big house near the ocean and into a hacker house across town at fifteen. She said goodbye to those friends one after another as they got better jobs and moved out, until finally she moved out herself to attend SFIT.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. I'll see you on the other side, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll see you for Christmas, I'll see you maybe on the street in passing. I'll only see you online, I'll never think of you again.

She had gotten good at predicting goodbyes, what type they would be. And based on that determined how open she would be with those around her. 

Jason Inoue in her Calc class was a 'I'll see you around maybe' once the semester was over so Gogo only talked to him about current events and campus happenings. 

Tadashi Hamada in her freshman writing class was...well, she'd like him to be a 'I'll sit next to you in the union if I see you' goodbye, if not a 'I'll see you this weekend' one after the semester. He was a good guy; honest and modest, a little unsure of himself around strangers, but he warmed up quickly and was also so positive and encouraging. Gogo opened up to him - her reasons for coming to SFIT and what she wanted to focus on.

He shared his too and before Gogo knew it Tadashi had introduced her to a variety of people. By the end of freshman year they were part of an interdepartmental group. All engineers of course, because she refused to associate with dumb people.

Tadashi Hamada, in her mind, would always give her a temporary goodbye. They would keep in touch after they graduated, but that was the least Gogo wanted. She had hoped their goodbye would eventually be the 'I'll see you tonight' type because Gogo liked him more than a little bit. Even if they never hooked up, she'd go out of her way to keep him involved in her life. Good friends were hard to come by.

He was never, never ever, supposed to be the 'I'll see you when our souls reunite in heaven' type of goodbye. Tadashi Hamada was never supposed to die in a fire at eighteen. He was never supposed to promise to see them in 30 minutes, only to leave a hat behind in his little brother's hands. 

It reminded her of her first goodbyes. To her mother who finally gave in. To her brother who died just as violently. 

Maybe she wasn't as good as predicting them as she thought she was. 

She was still reeling over Tadashi's sudden goodbye two days, two weeks, almost two months later. Threw herself into her work, pushing away the grief, regrettably only thinking of Hiro when Honey suggested a group message to him. 

This goodbye hurt, more than any other one she had felt, and when she received text from Tadashi her heart stopped.

_Hiro is in need of support from friends and loved ones._

It took her awhile to get past Tadashi's goodbye, because it had been so final and yet here his phone had just sent her a text. And then she noticed the full name of the contact she had just received a message from. 

Tadashi B

B. For Baymax.

Baymax had texted her on Hiro's behalf and Gogo had to wince because she found Tadashi's goodbye rough, knew Hiro had been taking it worse at the funeral, and then disregarded the pain the teen must be feeling.

_Hiro is in need of support from friends and loved ones._

Was the kid still depressed, hiding in his room two months later?

Gogo remembered what made her fall in love with Tadashi in the first place. It had been how he had talked about his little brother. How Hiro called him a nerd and the college the nerd lab. How Hiro was so smart, but didn't know when to shut his mouth. How Tadashi was so proud when his brother had graduated high school at 13 and so disappointed when he got into bot fighting at 14. How Tadashi so obviously loved someone who drove him to pulling out hair. 

It meant Tadashi had a big heart and family was important. He'd do anything for them and Gogo wouldn't have to worry about him pushing kids out the door when he came home at 8pm to get some piece and quiet. Tadashi would love her and any possible children with all his heart and always do his best to do right by them. 

He was her perfect future, the only person she felt she could fully love, and to carry him always she went to a tattoo parlor and had them ink the kanji for Tadashi's name in the middle of her sternum.

_Hiro is in need of support from friends and loved ones._

She read Baymax's text again and it echoed with 'hello'. Hello, I'm Baymax. Hello, I'm Tadashi. 

And Gogo realized Tadashi's goodbye wasn't the only one she had gotten wrong. It was understandable that she had, because Tadashi's death was sudden and uncalled for and a tragedy. But she had been no where near saying goodbye to Hiro. She had wanted to continue to talk to him, the kid had brilliance, and the goodbye of 'I'll see you in 30 minutes' had stretched into one of 'I'll see you maybe someday' because they had both been hurting and hadn't bothered to reconnect. 

That was on her. She was the adult. She was the one who wasn't depressed. 

Hiro had once driven a wedge between Gogo and Tadashi, but now maybe Hiro could be the bridge between her and what was left of Tadashi. 

Because that text was a wake-up call from the other side of goodbye. It was remember your values, remember your drive, remember me only in fondness, and help me do what I could never do.

It was a text Gogo couldn't ignore.

* * *

####  Memories 

* * *

It seemed at as soon as something was not there, you started missing it. While it seemed a little demeaning to compare Tadashi to the feeling she got from dipping her fingers into a pocket for gum only to grab empty air, it was the only thing she _could_ compare it too. Even when her mom and brother died she hadn't been over come by random sudden memories. 

She attributed it to, well, being younger when her family deaths had happened and Tadashi being the first person she had ever loved. Maybe only person. He had been pretty unique. 

Take the Hamada garage. 

She could never walk in and not in her mind see Hiro working like crazy or slumped over on a chair from the months of work he had put into building the microbots. And Tadashi was always there, getting something from a high shelf for his brother or holding a piece of pizza out of Hiro's reach. 

It had been the first time they had spent so much time together outside of school. Working in that garage. Granted, it was because of Hiro's project that Tadashi had said he couldn't take her out anymore because his priority was Hiro. Gogo understood, she knew Hiro would always have first place in Tadashi's mind, and was content to simply bump shoulders with the older Hamada as they worked in that tight space.

Just being near Tadashi made her happy.

The ramen shop near campus always brought up good memories too - usually those of when the group hung out - it had been the place of their pre-date as Gogo liked to call it. 

Fred, Wasabi, and Honey had bailed on lunch, Gogo still didn't know if it had been intentional, and it had been the first non-class setting the two of them had been in alone since she realized she was falling for Tadashi. In her nervousness she had been more coarse than usual, but Tadashi had seen through it. He had insisted on paying, which was a new thing, and then had turned to look at her with a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Gogo, did you want to something together this weekend. Just us?"

"I'll pick you up at 6 on Saturday."

That weekend had been their only date.

It was a toss up though over what triggered her memories more, Hiro or Tadashi's old lab space. Hiro looked so much like his brother, gap between his front teeth aside, and she had been so used to seeing Tadashi working either from afar, as she walked by, or leaning on the doorway. 

She paused, looking into the office. Hiro had done the impossible again, slid off his seat while asleep to pool onto the floor below the desk to continue his nap. The foot space there was tiny, but that was Hiro for you. He always surprised you.

There were no memories that hit her this time, staring at the teen. This lab space had been Hiro's for a few months now and she had learned to pick out the differences between Hiro and his brother. In general, the memories were coming less frequent. She supposed that was a sign of healing but it made her depressed all the same. 

Those memories were precious. She wanted to hold on to them a little bit longer. 

Gogo lifted her hand to her chest and pressed firmly, eyes closed, and thought about Tadashi. Just a bit. Nothing specific. Just the way he made her feel, still made her feel, and how, just a little bit, Hiro was inspiring her too. She would never fall for the Baby Bot, but he made her want to strive towards being better just like Tadashi had.

"Gogo?" She turned to see Wasabi coming down the hallway towards her, coffee from the machine down the hall in hand. 

"Hiro turned into a puddle again. Do you have a blanket we can toss over him?"

"Yeah, let me get it." He'd most likely bring Honey with him, she had a growing collection of photographs of Hiro's odd sleeping positions. 

Gogo set about moving the chair so Hiro wouldn't get his legs caught in it and straightening up his desk. The kid was working on so many projects: the robot Mochi, hover technology, making his mind lock smaller, Baymax. He'd do good. He'd make Tadashi proud.

* * *

####  New Beginnings

* * *

Answering that text and saying 'hello' to Hiro for a second time hadn't quite been the bridge she had been hoping for. But then again, she hadn't known what she had been expecting to get from Hiro to begin with. More information about Tadashi? A chance to feel as if he was still close by, not entirely gone?

Hiro did look like Tadashi, Gogo had to admit that. Looking at family photos Cass put in front of the group from time to time, unless the two boys were together it was impossible to tell who the photo had been taken of. 

If a child Tadashi looked similar to how Hiro looked now, then it was logical to assume an adult Hiro would look like Tadashi had. The thought always sent a little flutter into Gogo's chest, made her glance sideways at Hiro and wonder about the future. 

But a working Hiro had a habit of sticking his tongue out and he refused to use a magnifying glass whereas Tadashi had bit at his lip instead and always believed in making things easier for his eyes. 

Gogo would always been ashamed at her thoughts when the little differences startled her out of them. Hiro was fourteen going on fifteen. She was newly twenty one. 

She supposed it was her way of searching for signs. Koreans believed in a soul, believed death was just a transformation and the soul now rested in another place with occasional visits to where it had used to live.

Is that what she was looking for in Hiro? Signs of Tadashi living on, of shining through Hiro or just hovering around his baby brother because Tadashi had been enamored of him? Was she simply using Hiro for her own selfish gains?

She hated the thought but could never banish it completely. Tadashi had been her one glance at a positive future, one that didn't reflect her criminal childhood or halfhearted raising. He had been hope and love and perfect and the world felt so derelict without him.

But it wasn't fair to Hiro.

So Gogo kept her mouth shut about Tadashi, only brought him up when she felt Tadashi was on Hiro's mind in a way that wasn't good. Hiro's thoughts were always on his face and when Tadashi was mentioned it often scrunched up in pain. 

Gogo hated being the cause of that. 

So she didn't bring up the dead love between them, the soul she maybe wanted Hiro to connect her with, and settled for looking _at_ Hiro instead of _for_ Tadashi. She noticed the little things first. Hiro tapped his foot, Tadashi hadn't. Hiro liked gummy bears and cupcakes, Tadashi ate bags of pretzels and grapes. Hiro had a backpack, Tadashi had preferred a messenger bag.

And then once she noticed the superficial differences she took note of the character traits. 

Hiro refused to show off his sketches and instead presented detailed blueprints while Tadashi had babbled about his newest idea, bouncing thoughts around in the air to anyone who would listen. Hiro would charge into situations without a thought of how to deal with them or get out, while as Tadashi always had a detailed plan of attack and retreat. Hiro would outright insult you, Tadashi would find something nice to say about a stupid idea.

The more Gogo looked, the more differences she categorized, the more she felt like Tadashi was farther and farther away. She could feel it in her chest, when thinking about him brought less pain. She could see it on Hiro's face too, when he had started searching for food himself instead of only eating when told to. 

Tadashi was gone and gone, way on the other side of goodbye, and Gogo was left with only a few things to remember him by. A cardigan he had left at her house once. A smiling face in Honey's photo collection. A tattoo of his name on her chest. Hiro's childhood shedding face. And a diminishing ache in her heart that made her dread the day it was gone completely. 

And later, just when that ache was almost gone, Hiro rebuilt Baymax and that was one more thing to remind Gogo of her unfulfilled love. 

Five, soon to be four things. 

Except Baymax greeted her in May with _Hello Gogo_ and she was reminded of that text from Tadashi B almost eight months ago. The text that had Wasabi calling her and saying he'd be outside her door in fifteen minutes and don't she dare head over to the cafe without him 'cause this had to be a group thing. The text that led to thrown shipping containers, masked men, a car chase, a dive into the Bay, and ultimately a conversation in Fred's surprisingly large house that changed her world. 

They had turned into super heroes to ensure Tadashi's got justice. They had stayed super heroes to carry out his life's mission. 

Gogo found herself eyeing Baymax as the rest of the group hugged him and welcomed him back, Hiro beaming beside him. She had been looking at things all wrong. Watching Hiro was not going to give her glimpses of Tadashi's soul that would let her know he was alright. Tadashi had been with Baymax instead - pushing Hiro out of the house, lifting his mood, showing him how close he had come to destroying himself, teaching Hiro to look after others. 

Tadashi was here, now that Baymax was back, and Gogo finally let the ache beneath her tattoo dissolve into her body. 

They only had one year left as a team; Honey she knew was already considering fellowships in Latin America after they graduated and Wasabi was thinking about switching coasts. One year, from May to May, to roam around the city patrolling in suits and this time Hiro would be riding on Baymax's back like in the beginning and they wouldn't attack pigeons and Fred was prohibited from targeting a panther without help again.

Big Hero 6 had already existed for months now, but for once they had no lingering grief. No crying for Tadashi, no grief for Baymax. It was a new beginning, a whole beginning, and Gogo couldn't find herself to miss Tadashi.

Because he was, after all, right there. 

He lived in Baymax's code and his dream (her dream too) was stained into her skin. 

She loved him, she always would, but it was time to let the pain go.

* * *

####  Opposites 

* * *

Sometimes, she wondered why Tadashi and her were friends. She especially wondered when they had such different view points of the world based on their history. 

Sure, Tadashi had a bit of tragedy in his past. Parental deaths always changed someone. Tadashi had turned his grief into strength though, used it to fuel the energy he put into Hiro.

Gogo had done something different.

With her mother dead her dad's grief sent the family spiraling downward. Her brother got involved in a gang, her father started kicking her and her four brother outside when he got home so he could drink in peace. Gogo had tried to be strong for her family, earn money as a bike messenger, but it wasn't enough and she found her siblings and father to be a sinkhole she had to get out of sooner rather than later. 

Gogo had turned her grief into rough stone, a solid presence who scratched up those who got in her way.

She never understood why someone as goodhearted as Tadashi had even talked to her. But maybe that was why she had found herself drawn to him. He had taken similar experiences, similar emotions, and came out _better._ She had turned into the person whose resting face screamed _I'm a bitch and will eat your heart out if you come near me._

Not that she was like that inside. But she was used to people leaving, used to leaving others, and she had learned how to protect herself. An external image was just part of that. Tadashi had seen past it. 

He had shared stories of Hiro, she had shared stories of what she had seen on her bike, and they slowly realized they shared a goal of helping others. 

They suddenly weren't opposites, they were the same coin sharing the edges of mission and grief. It made Gogo a little jealous of Tadashi's side. How people flocked to him, how he made those around him open up and turn friendly, how everyone liked him. It was a type of person she didn't know she could exist, didn't know she _could_ be until meeting him.

She wanted to change. And Tadashi would be the best person to teach her.

* * *

####  A Need for Speed

* * *

Speed had always been her escape. When her father would shoo them out the door when he came home, leaving her and her brothers standing on the landing staring at each other, she would run down the three steps. They stopped calling after her the first week. 

There was just something about it, the trees passing by and the wind in her hair. Going fast, focusing on making quick decisions, made her forget about home. And then she discovered bicycles when a messenger almost hit her. She hadn't seen him, but heard the skid and turned her head waiting for a crash. He had simply turned the handle bars, did a little hop like trick riders, and then continued on his way. 

Bicycles went faster than people. She would have to focus more to stay in control. She could, as she discovered when she signed up to be a messenger at 14 with a stolen bike, make money. Maybe home would get better, if she could help her father by providing a pay check. Maybe he would be less stressed, buy fewer bottles, let them in before bedtime and not forget to feed them dinner four nights out of seven. 

It didn't. But Gogo found it didn't matter. She had fallen in love with speed, with power, with the wind, and the feeling of having something so wild under her control. Speed was her life. She'd build the fastest bike in the world. 

But then she met Tadashi Hamada. The half Japanese genius starting SFIT at 16, who obsessed over his brother and made her wish for short goodbyes. The person who connected a ragtag group of engineering students and a tag-a-long mascot. 

When Tadashi was in the lab with the rest of them, she didn't feel the need to test out her newest set of wheels or tweaks to the suspension. No, she was content to solder and twist, hammer and paint. She worked on her designs, her blueprints, and all thoughts of pedaling at 60 miles an hour fled her head.

She wanted to be here. In the same room as Tadashi Hamada. The one guy who made her want to slow down and not watch things pass by in a blur. She didn't care about focusing on what was coming, the quick reflexes and control she could wield over something dangerous. This time, she knew if she went fast she'd miss all the important details.

* * *

####  Elements

* * *

Sometimes it was possible to forget Tadashi was two years younger then them. But not usually. 

"Guys, we have to do a group Halloween costume."

"Dude, yes!" Fred punched the air. "I recommend we go Godzilla Through the Ages!" He leaned back and spread his hands apart in the air. "We can each dress up from a different era and - "

"And no." Gogo snapped a bubble in the sudden silence.

"Gogo, why not?" Tadashi turned his focus on her. Ug, his lip was quivering. Puppy dog eyes. She quickly turned away.

"Tadashi, don't you think being in university means you're too old dress up and trick-or-treat?" Honey fidgeted with the glasses on her face. Gogo knew she was also susceptible to Tadashi's puppy eyes. 

"Just cuz I'm in university doesn't mean I have to leave the fun stuff behind. Plus, I'm not talking about going to grab candy. There's a party at one of the fraternities on campus, but you have to come in group costumes. It's a rule."

"Unless it's at Alpha Gamma Omega, we're not going." Gogo nodded along with with Wasabi. Sure, it was college. Drinking was part of the culture and she'd had her first taste back in elementary school when her dad started hitting bottles. Wasabi, however, was a strict rule follower and refused to allow any of them alcohol in his presence. 

Especially 17-in-two-weeks Tadashi Hamada. 

Any other classmate and Gogo would willingly let them dress up as they liked and drink as much as they liked. Tadashi? Something about him made her want to shelter him, just a bit. He was a good guy. He should stay that way. 

She stood firm with Wasabi in situations like this. And hey, AGO was the one Christian frat on campus and so had a no drugs or alcohol policy. There was no way they were the ones throwing this costume party. 

Tadashi grinned. "Its totally at Alpha Gamma Omega." 

Wasabi had walked right into it. That was three (of a sort) to two. Majority wins. They'd be going to AGO's party. 

Gogo looked over at Honey who seemed to share her sentiment. It could be fun, but most likely just a mediocre event. Hell, she had only meet these others students once before, individually, thanks to Tadashi. Gogo would rather watch scary movies someplace, the Futo Cinema did a marathon of them she went to last year and liked. Still, if Honey was going to grudgingly go, she couldn't very well let the girl go by herself. 

"So, I call the first Godzilla - "

"Fred, I'm not dressing up as a giant lizard."

* * *

Tadashi, the pill, had only introduced them all to each other for this specific reason. Gogo would have been totally fine just interacting with Tadashi in class, but had been sucked into lunch time meetings and then a meet and greet. Puppy eyes and a quiver lip. That was the only reason. 

He, apparently, had always wanted to do a group costume of Captain Planet and the Planeteers. What that was, Gogo had no idea. Fred, who she was learning was quite a geek, informed them all it was a very old show that even he had never seen. 

"My parents watched it when they were kids," Tadashi said, scratching the back of his neck. "They bought a copy for me and Hiro to watch."

Oh. That hurt. The subtle guilt lay of dead parents and repeated previous rejections of his ideas. Wasabi crumbled. Honey crumbled. Fred was game for anything and Gogo just rolled her eyes saying she'd go it only because everyone else was. 

"Now remember, you have to act in character." Tadashi was taking this costume contest way too serious. Granted, the first place prize was pretty cool. A $50 dollar gift certificate to the student union that would pay for a lunch and a half each. But if he was that desperate to win, he should have insisted on something he wasn't the only one with awareness of. 

"Honey, your names is Linka and you like birds. Wasabi, you answer to Kawame and have a thing for plants. Gogo, you're Gi and want to be a marine biologist. I'm Ma-Ti, and Fred-"

"I am Wheeler, the Brooklyn hot head who controls the ring of fire!" Fred said all of this in a New Yokohama accent and then pointed the cardboard ring on his fist in Gogo's face. She brushed it aside. Fred did seem the type to go crazy over stuff like this. 

"Perfect! You all know your elements?" 

The group nodded. Tadashi had drilled it into their heads a few times. Gogo had no intention of speaking with an accent, she was SF born and bred, but at the very least she would point her ring when they presented their costume for the contest. And since she was an engineer, she had made hers out of plastic and it actually shot out a small stream water. Slyly looking at the hands of her fellow engineers, they had also made functional rings.

Cute. She did not expect them to have made the effort. She had not expected herself to have made the effort. 

Again, she cursed Tadashi's young pouty face. That would get him far if he learned to use it right. Or, she thought as they walked through the door, he was already an expert and they all didn't realize they being properly manipulated.

Hell, if that story about wanting to be a planeteer since he was five was a lie Gogo was gonna crush him. 

She hoped she never met that younger brother of his. He was probably worse.

* * *

####  Genderbent 

* * *

By this point, the lab was a little used to the difficulties of Baymax. Usually in the shouts of duress coming from Tadashi's mouth, but Gogo had long learned to ignore it. She knew the different sounds for stress relief, minor pain, and serious harm. Only the later would get her to leave her work station. 

Or another ten fuses blown like last week. She had lobbed one of Wasabi's wrenches at Tadashi's head for that trial test. 

This shout sent her hair on end. It wasn't pain, not yet, but it was serious alarm and that never led to good things. She didn't place her tools down so much as let them slip through her fingers as she raced around the corner.

She heard Honey and Wasabi shout from behind her but ignored them.

Gogo was half a hallway between the group lab and Tadashi's private space. He was constantly yelling now, and she could make out the words 'hot' and 'fire'. Gogo burst into the lab and had only a minute to take in the sight. 

Baymax, or part of him, was on fire. So were Tadashi's pants and he was anxiously trying to pull them off, still alight, but his shoes were in the way. Gogo raced to the right corner for the fire extinguisher. She pulled the pin out, pressed the handle, and aimed the nozzle. 

Gogo sent the spray towards Tadashi first and it was only when he made a sound of protest did she turn her attention to Baymax. Ug, burnt vinyl smelled awful. There was still a flash of orange and she turned to see it was Tadashi's pants. She hadn't fully covered him in the fire represent then. She doused the article of clothing in a hill of foam and only then turned to check up on Tadashi. 

A halfway naked Tadashi because not only had he slipped his pants off, but his boxers too. 

Gogo couldn't help it. She stared. She already knew she was attracted to Tadashi, already knew she liked to take the time to appreciate the tiny details about him. She took a long time taking in these particular details.

"Gogo!" Tadashi yelled, immediately grabbing a blueprint from his desk and holding it up as a shield. He looked mollified. Gogo just smirked at him. 

She took a step forward, feeling the power of the situation he gave her by blushing first. "Don't hide, I should check for burns."

He gaped at her like a fish and with a huff she placed the extinguisher down on the floor. As much as she wanted to take things further with Tadashi, she was okay with how things were now. No need to go beyond a short tease. 

"I'll go see if I can get you some extra clothes. Unless you have a spare pair of pants?"

"No. Thank you."

She left him and headed back towards the lab. Fred would not have anything clean, Tadashi would not like her shorts or leggings, Wasabi - they knew from experience - was a couple sizes bigger than Tadashi and any pants Tadashi borrowed would certainly slip off. She better find rope too then.

"Gogo, is everything alright?"

"Tadashi burned a hole in his pants." More like several holes. Those garments were mostly ashes instead of cotton right now. "Wasabi, can he borrow a pair?"

"Don't have one with me."

"He can wear my suit." Gogo considered the offer. It was a desperate option, what with heat and the smell. Honey seemed to think similarly because she tentatively offered a skirt. 

"I ordered it online, but it's too big. I was going to return it on my way home, but Tadashi can see if he can fit into it."

A monster suit or a knee length skirt? Gogo knew which one she wanted to see Tadashi in. She brought him the skirt and said it was either that or layers of wax paper taken from the lab. He took the skirt.

"Turn around while I change, Gogo."

She did better, leaving the lab entirely, but waited leaning against the opposite wall. Tadashi came out two minutes later and damn she wished he wore shorts more often. Those were some nice calves.

"I can't believe Honey walks around in these."

The skirt clung to his thighs, keeping his knees together and Gogo could tell it made it hard for Tadashi to walk. His delicate bits were most likely also getting pinched. 

"Woman up." 

"You're one to talk, you always wear pants."

"Not always," she answered around a mouthful of gum. She must have misread the look he sent at her, because that certainly looked like interest and she had never seen that on his face before. 

"I don't think I can ride my moped like this."

"Probably not. You can try sidesaddle if you want. I'll drive."

He considered it and Gogo could feel his arms around her waist, the side of his thigh pressing up against her lower back. She wanted him to say yes.

"Thank you, but I'll see if Wasabi can give me a ride."

She snapped a bubble and did her best not to let her disappointment show. 

At least she enjoyed his walk down the hallway. His pants never showed off his butt this well.


End file.
